For the first time, people outside the studio are playing Dreadmark. Some testers recorded an hour of play and talked through every fight, and since 9 October anyone can sign up for a free key and send written feedback. The demo opens to everyone on Steam on 19 October.
The current test season opened on 9 October with a fresh ladder. Since then eight testers have played about six and a half hours on version 0.2.18. Four of their characters reached level 10, the demo's cap, and four testers beat the Dark Lord, one each. Every miniboss fell at least five times, the Pallbearer most often. Of the nine characters, five are Witches and four are Templars, and nobody has tried hardcore yet.
They died thirteen times. Archers caused three of those deaths, and the heavy skeleton's crushing blow, the Charnel King's thorns and Mother Lament two each.
What they ran into, and what changed because of it:
- A vault over a chest in the Graveyard could land a character in a corner with no way back. Chests and barrels can no longer be vaulted, and a vault that boxes you in carries you back out.
- The Dread Map the Dark Lord drops was lost for good if you died or left before picking it up. Now it reaches you on your next arrival.
- The low-life warning was easy to miss. The red edge now starts at a quarter of your life, it is brighter, and it beats like a heart that speeds up as death comes closer.
- Red danger markers cut under ledges and stairs. They now lie on the ground they cover, steps and ledges included.
- Sprinting through the cathedral stuttered every few steps. The minimap's fog was the cause, and it now updates in a few milliseconds instead of thirty to forty.
- Some skeletons hurt you back when you hit them, with nothing to show it. Every monster with thorns now has a small crown of bone spikes at its feet.
- Past the edge of a map you could see a white sky. It is dark now.
- The big slams had no sound of their own. A round of new sounds is in, and every sound now has something on screen that explains it.
- The Graveyard dropped less loot than intended. Ordinary monsters there now drop items more than twice as often and elites close to twice as often, and they drop gold more often everywhere.
- Taking off gear with a nearly full bag only worked by dropping it on one exact free cell. A right click, or a drop anywhere in the bag, now finds a free cell.
One written review asked for a denser world off the main road, with more people, shops and hidden places. That comes after the fest.
There are still free keys. Sign up on the test page, play for an hour or two, and answer five short questions.